Parade of Christmas Crafts {sweaters}

And finally, any respectable knitting parade ends with sweaters. I have to admit, my goal was one sweater for each sibling but I fell one short. But hold me to it ~ one more Christmas knit will come off the needles year.

~ Kris' Tunic ~ This pattern is from Twinkle's Big City Knits by Wenlan Chia. I love the pattern ideas in the book, but wtf Wenlan? Why did you, your editors, whoever, think it was ok to write "knitted measurements" rather than, say, "body-sizes"? When the sweater I want to knit has a 14 inch waist and 25 inch bust, how the hell would anyone know if it's going to stretch to their size? NO CLUE.

Needless to say, when it came to knitting this sweater ~ third time's a charm.
This was knit with Lion's Brand Thick and Quick on US 15 needles for the body and US 17s for the neck. After all of that knitting, I forgot to write down my modifications, but I've put in a request with Kris. As soon as I have them, I may have to cast on for another for myself.


And unfortunately, I left town soon after giving, so I have so very few shots of the sweaters being warn by their recipients... Sarah, help?

~ Sarah's sweater ~ Sarah's Christmas list included a not-too-secret hint for an "old man cardigan". When I saw that request, I immediately thought of the last old man cardi I knit ~ this trellis for Madeline. Knitting this the first time produced such great results, that I figured it was worth the challenge to take the baby pattern and adapt it to an adult size. Truth be told, it was extremely easy ~ just use some bulky yarn and bigger needles. Cast on for the child's medium {as written in the pattern}, and started knitting. The only real differences were in length {longer body and arms} sleeve circumference {the original pattern lacked shaping in the sleeves, so I adjusted, making them fitted}, and finally, the collar {I added in a few short rows to give it some extra room to fit around the larger neck area}. Next time I think I'll even make the neck a little bit wider; I knit it 11 stitches wide, as written.
This pattern is written in pieces, but this time, like last, I eliminated as many seams as possible {knitting the sleeves in the round and the back and front sections in one piece}. I had to sew the sleeves to the body, but next time I'd like to try eliminating these seams too.

The last sweater? That would be Jeff's. He requested it years ago, and having this request hanging over my head was the impetus for the sibling sweaters this year. Eek, then one excuse led to another and I decided to give him the bag of yarn instead... I'd like to say that I've cast on, but he's still holding on to that bag of yarn!

Make way for the clean-up crew, our little parade is over. And with the {joyful}weight of the holiday crafting off my shoulders, it's time to turn my sights towards new year's creative goals and resolutions. Happy New Year*